**Originally published in The Vampire Church’s E-Zine in 2003**

Agro Factor Alpha

First of all, let me begin by stating that this is purely my own views, and not the views of any other Council member of the Vampire Church nor its Found and Elder, Damien Daville. *

Over the past few months, I have noticed an alarming factor in the newly awakening, and even in some of the older vampires on the lists. There is an unnerving tendency to attack anything and all things that don’t perceive the world around them from their particular point of view. All too often this has led to more than one vampire getting thoroughly disgusted with another and ceasing all communication with them. Now this wouldn’t always be a bad thing, however, there are some, who have an Agro Factor Alpha. What I mean by this is that, time and again, this spurned person goes over other lists, spewing a tirade of hateful, hate filled epitaphs about either a particular person or the organization that they happened to be in when this slight occurred. This does not make them any less the monster than the person that they are slandering every chance they get.

Such slanders have even included various vampiric Houses, such as my own. The House of Mystic Echoes has been dubbed the House of Sticky Geckoes” and although it was an attempt to hurt, anger, and agitate the House, we actually took the Gecko as a House mascot.

I realize that we, as vampires, are quite territorial and even a little more aggressive than the mundane human, but this does not grant us the right to do away with simple manners and mannerisms that many of us were raised with. Where does it say, that if you can’t find your “fit” in one part of the community, that you won’t be able to find your “fit” some place else. If there is to be a balance and structure to the vampire community, then we must all find our place within it, but that does NOT mean that you walk into another community and reap a whirlwind of hatred. Leave your hatred out of what is in the community. Know that there are those in the community that you will not be able to get along with, no matter how hard you try. But also be aware that should you walk into a community without accepting its rules, leadership, or accepted lexicon of terms, flaunting your experiences as the end all in vampirism, and you will only serve to ration yourself out a portion of disrespect and contempt.

Where does this suit your interests? Simple. If you are truly looking to fit within a given community, then you will need to know its rules, leaders, and accepted terms of that particular community. It’s not hard. It really isn’t. I found my “fit”. After searching for several years, I found the Vampire Church, and have accepted them as both Family and Friend. This does not mean that I agree 100%, nor does it mean that they agree with everything I say, but NO Family does this. There is no family anywhere that everyone agrees with the other. Trust me. I know from personal experiences.

It is my sincerest hope that this article helps others that are searching for their place within the community. We may be a fractitious lot, but there are those of us searching to break down the walls within and become a whole and united community. It is an ongoing and laborious project, but one that I and others feel well worth the effort.

Vitae Dominae
Belfazaar Ashantison

First published in the Vampire Church Zine in 2003

* Nor The Vampyre Coven & it’s leadership.